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Man dies from brain-eating amoeba after trip to swimming pool

A man has died just days after going for a swim in an indoor pool.

The man, 44, from India, visited doctors in January suffering from confusion and a cough, according to his case in the New England Journal of Medicine.

He told doctors he’d taken a dip six days earlier.

They noted his body temperature was 39.8C and his heart rate was 120 beats per minute but he had no rashes and responded when poked and prodded by doctors.

Vials of spinal fluid are pictured next to signs of amebas under a microscope.
The man's spinal fluid revealed amebas making him ill. Source: New England Journal of Medicine

A lumbar puncture was performed and cerebrospinal fluid collected.

Doctors found Naegleria fowleri, also known as brain-eating amoeba.

“Usually associated with the summer months and with freshwater, N. fowleri causes primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a disease that is almost universally fatal, although rare cases of survival have been described,” researchers wrote.

He was given medications for fungal and bacterial infections but unfortunately died five days later.

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